


Ymir

by orphan_account



Series: RBY [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, reiner and ymir invented mlm/wlw solidarity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 10:34:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12982203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: If he couldn’t come up with the words himself, he’d just have to borrow hers.





	Ymir

**Author's Note:**

> can't believe i'm posting my first snk fic in december 2017 but better late than never and i'm sick of how dead the reibert tag is i am STARVING so i guess i have to feed myself
> 
> anyway i started writing the chronicles of ymir bertholdt and reiner after the clash of the titans arc bc they are the best goddamn trio in snk, however it turned into like a 12k monster that's not even close to finished and prob never will be bc i'm a joke so i decided to just post this part of it bc i need to learn to just write short things and let them rest. maybe i'll post other pieces of it in the future and make it a series or smth bc i love these three so much i rly do

“Could you stop looking over my shoulder, you weirdo?” Ymir snapped, aiming a glare at Reiner out of the corner of her eye.

Reiner started slightly, as if he hadn’t expected her to notice. “I’m supposed to make sure you don’t disclose any confidential information,” he muttered awkwardly. Ymir chuckled.

“None of that. Just a sappy love letter,” she said with a sigh, holding it out to him. “Here, I’m done. You can proofread it if you want.”

Reiner waved her off. “It’s fine. I believe you,” he said. Ymir shrugged and stuffed it into the envelope, sealing it shut and writing Historia’s name on the front in her best attempt at calligraphy. She stared at it for a few moments, before turning to Reiner and holding the finished product toward him.

He grabbed it, but she didn’t let go. “Hey,” she said with a seriousness that was rare coming from her. She held eye contact with him as her grip tightened on the letter. “Make sure she gets this. Please.”

Reiner nodded once, and she finally released her hold. He stared at the letter for a few beats, holding it delicately in his large hands like it would shatter if he wasn’t careful. “You really love her, huh,” he asked, almost in confusion. She barked a laugh.

“…More than I thought was even possible,” she said with a sad smile. Reiner flushed with embarrassment at the intensity of her words, and Ymir laughed again. “Ah, come on, don’t be like that. Know what I think? I think you want it.”

Reiner cleared his throat. “Um, no, I… about Christa…”

“That’s not what I meant,” Ymir interrupted, waving him off. “I know your thing for her was just you having an identity crisis, or a gay panic, or something. Don’t worry about it.” Reiner glowered at her, but she ignored him. “What I meant was, I think you’re about the most affection-starved person I’ve ever met in my life.”

Reiner crossed his arms and leaned against the wall behind him. “Don’t you have anything better to do than psychoanalyze me?” he muttered. Ymir grinned.

“Uh, no. I’m on death row, Braun, let me have this last meal,” she said, and he immediately slumped in defeat. She tapped her chin. “Let’s see, mommy sent you away to be a child soldier, so I’m highly doubting your childhood was full of maternal love. And of the three kids you grew up with who I’ve met, two of them seem to kind of hate your guts. Not to mention the fact that your dad obviously isn’t around…”

“That’s enough, Ymir,” Reiner snapped, feeling his face heat up with anger rather than embarrassment this time. Ymir held up a hand.

“Quiet, I have a point,” she said unapologetically. She paused for a moment, before chuckling under her breath. “You became addicted to how much those guys on Paradis loved you, to the point that it broke your mind, right?”

Reiner looked away, his hands shaking slightly as he clenched them into fists. “I don’t know,” he said.

“Well, let me tell you something. None of that was real. They’ll never understand you, they hate you, and next time you meet they’ll stop at nothing to kill you,” she said bluntly, leaning closer to him from her chair. “But, Reiner, you know that boy we left back on that wall? The tall, awkward one? That boy looks at you like you hung the stars in the goddamn sky. He knows everything about you and he always has, and he still looks at you that way.”

Reiner blushed to the tips of his ears. “W-what are you trying to say?” he muttered. Ymir snorted.

“I think you already know.” He was quiet for a long time.

“I don’t… I can't think about things like that right now,” he said quietly. Ymir’s expression suddenly contorted into a grimace.

“Well, you should get your priorities straight,” she said. She looked down at the pen still in her hand and crushed it in her grip. “You have no idea how much time you have left… when the last time you ever see him is going to be…”

Ymir’s eyes had welled up with tears, and he tried his best to avoid eye contact with her. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice breaking. She waved him off.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just… tell him, okay? And take care of him. If anything happens to that boy I swear to god I’ll haunt you,” she said, grinning even as tears fell and stained her cheeks. He swallowed thickly and tried to keep the moisture in his own eyes at bay. “Besides, you don’t want to die a virgin, do you?”

Reiner aimed a kick at her chair, which she jumped up from with an obnoxious cackle. He rolled his eyes. “God, you’re a wretched woman,” he said, sniffing once and wiping at his eyes. He grit his teeth against the sudden onslaught of emotion threatening to overwhelm him. “I’m gonna miss you so goddamn much.”

Ymir grinned at him, chuckling again through her tears. “I know,” she said. She punched his shoulder lightly. “Bertholdt isn’t the only one, you know. I don’t fight off a horde of titans for just anyone.”

—

“Hey, Bertholdt,” Reiner said, shaking his shoulder slightly to wake him. “I’m back.”

When he’d finally returned to Shiganshina, about a week after he’d left to escort Ymir back to Marley, it was the dead of night. He was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and he wanted nothing more than to lay down beside Bertholdt and sleep the days away. But Bertholdt groaned and sat up, giving Reiner a soft, sad smile as he rubbed at his eyes. “Hey,” he said sleepily. “…Are you okay?”

Reiner snorted. Leave it to Bertholdt to already be worried about him moments after waking up. “I’m okay,” he confirmed. Bertholdt still looked concerned, so Reiner forced a smile and squeezed his hand. “Hey, wanna go on a walk with me?”

Bertholdt looked surprised, but he stretched and nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

They walked along Wall Maria in silence for several minutes, consumed by the absolute silence of their surroundings. It was a bit unsettling, especially considering the fact that the last time they’d been there, it had been the exact opposite. Reiner could still hear the sounds of panic and chaos in his sleep sometimes.

The letter in his pocket weighed down on him heavily, and suddenly, he stopped walking. Bertholdt stopped too, looking back at him curiously. Reiner’s heart pounded in his ears.

“Listen, there’s something I have to tell you,” Reiner said, wiping his sweaty hands on his pants as he looked out over the ruins of Shiganshina below them.

Bertholdt stopped as well, turning to face him with a curious expression. “Alright,” he said. “You can tell me anything.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know,” Reiner said. He cleared his throat a few times, but he still couldn’t seem to find his voice. This wasn’t a position he ever thought he would be in, at least not now. Maybe in a few years, once they’d returned home, once they were settled and comfortable and no longer in the middle of a war. But Ymir had been right, like she usually tended to be. Their lives were short enough as it was.

Bertholdt furrowed his eyebrows in concern. “Reiner, what’s wrong?” he asked softly. Reiner took a deep breath.

If he couldn’t come up with the words himself, he’d just have to borrow hers. “When this is all over,” he said. “Marry me.”

Bertholdt froze, his eyes widening and a blush immediately creeping over his skin. Reiner wouldn’t allow himself to be embarrassed, and he held Bertholdt’s gaze firmly. He meant it. Ever since he was a kid, he’d known he wanted to spend the rest of his life by Bertholdt’s side.

Suddenly, Bertholdt let out a burst of laughter so loud and unexpected that it made Reiner jump. He threw his head back, showing all of his teeth as he barked his laughter into the quiet night air. It was such a rare, beautiful sound that Reiner couldn’t even find it in him to be offended. It had been so long since he’d heard Bertholdt laugh. He couldn’t even remember the last time, but he thinks they must have been children.

“S-sorry,” Bertholdt said, wiping the tears of mirth out of his eyes. “That’s just not really how I imagined you confessing your feelings to me.”

Reiner rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, I’m not really good with words,” he muttered. He blinked. “…You’ve imagined it?”

Bertholdt smiled shyly. “I’ve been waiting for about… three years?” he said thoughtfully, as if calculating in his head. Reiner balked.

“Y-you’ve known for that long?” he asked, feeling his face heat up. “I don’t think I even realized it back then.”

Bertholdt just chuckled again under his breath, before his face fell into a softer, more serious expression. “Okay,” he said.

“Hm?”

“Okay. I’ll marry you. Of course I will,” Bertholdt said softly. Reiner’s heart was pounding so hard he was afraid Bertholdt could hear it. “After this is all over. But… for now, is it okay if I kiss you?”

Reiner was too overwhelmed to do anything but nod stiffly, and Bertholdt smiled again before closing the gap between them and pressing their lips together.

A warm, euphoric feeling flooded through Reiner’s body. It was a happiness he knew he hadn’t genuinely felt in a long time, if ever. He kissed Bertholdt back like it was all he’d ever wanted to do. Maybe it was.

When Bertholdt pulled back, his eyes were a bit damper than they had been before. He laughed again, and Reiner’s heart pulled at the sound. “It’s good to see you smile,” Reiner said, rubbing his thumb over Bertholdt’s cheekbone. Bertholdt reached up and took Reiner’s hand in his. “Hey… thanks.”

“For?” Bertholdt asked.

Reiner thought back to Ymir’s words. _He knows everything about you and he always has, and he still looks at you that way._ He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “When we were kids, you held out your hand and helped me up off the ground. You stayed back after everyone else left,” he said. “I never thanked you for that.”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm gonna try to post more reibert stuff soon i promise i will not let the drought in this tag continue reiner and bertholdt are the greatest thing about this hell manga


End file.
